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It's been a long time since I started a new "getting to know you" thread. People dip in and out of forums like this and it would be nice to hear about those currently participating, whether new or not. My life has changed since the last time I posted on this thread, if you're an oldie like me, c'mon and let us know who you are NOW!! And if you're brand new...or just lurking, c'mon, we'd love to meet you!

My name is Robin, married to my first real boyfriend for over 35 years, live in a bungalow we're restoring near Philadelphia.

Sons are grown, one is a fulltime painter...who taught me how to paint and has been my best critic! I also have a son who is an engineering student and also paints, also good at critiquing. My hubby used to paint pictorial billboards before they got computerized, so we all "do art".

Except our pitbull Otto, the best dog in the world (no offense to your dogs!)

I do primarily dog portraits for the last 5 years, but can't ever be satisfied, lol, I'm always trying something new. I'm about to take a class in woodcut printing and am trying to unlock the mystery of watercolor pencils. I also love to garden. I also work, for lawyers, in Phila. 'nuff said about "work"!

This forum has been a life changer for me, literally. Great folks, very supportive of all styles and levels of experience...

Oops! I meant to mention the colored pencil library in this forum, good for both "newbies" and "oldies". Tons of info you won't find anywhere else in the world, plus lots of great demos. There's a lot of general stuff in the library, but a ton of stuff in the "index" that is organized.

Ok...I'm in. lol. My name is Jenna and I live with my boyfriend of 4 years and my dog, Kahlua. My boyfriend and I just bought our first house 6 months ago. I am 27yrs old (will be 28 in 2 months). I work full time as an administrative assistant for a local government. I found WC a few years ago when I needed help fixing a mistake in a drawing I was working on, and I have seen a big improvement in my work since I joined. I improved more in the 3.5yrs that I've been a member here, than I did in the 25yrs prior to that. I've recently joined my local Alliance for the Arts, and I one of my drawings was accepted into their annual exhibition. I am also looking into taking some classes as soon as I see one on their schedule that interests me and is convenient to my schedule. Other than my artwork, I enjoy rollerblading (which I do every weekend), reading and cooking.

__________________JennaMy website and My blog and My Facebook Page"The greater the artist, the greater the doubt. Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize." Robert Hughes

Am 51, started drawing two Octobers ago, pretty much on a dare in a restaurant, on a black board where they put the specials. Ran out of things I could draw and have taken classes with Nichole Caulfield. Who is an awesome teacher as well as awesome artist.

I draw recreationally which means I don’t know what I am doing. (See recreational golfers.) I like pen and ink and CP. I can draw anywhere and start and stop. I pretty much do pen and ink and then color.

I have been lurking. I can find out about paper, pencils and such. See composition, value, complementary colors and try and try and figure out what is color saturation. Great complement to Nichol’s teaching.

I kinda wanted to draw what was in my head and now understand I have to be able to draw what I can see with my eyes first. Oh bother.

Thank you all for all the great work and the information.

I found 100 dollar bill on the ground and am going to spend it at Blicks in Hartford CT when I go see my daughter. Yippee

I am another "oldie", in age, that is. I am 60 years old, and have only been doing my colored pencil portraits for a year and a half. So, basically I am still a newbie to Wet Canvas. I have always loved art, but had let my talent lay dormant for over 40 years while raising four sons, and most of that time I was a single Mom. I have been a nurse since 1979, and had to quit working due to health issues. Since that time, I have revived my interest in art, and started posting my work on WC! and receiving comments and critique of my portraits. I have learned so much from the people on this forum, and I have seen an amazing improvement in my work.

I have been married to my wonderful, supportive husband for almost 7 years, and our anniversary is June 15. We were avid country dancers, and were dance instructors for a couple of years before my illness started causing me to have a lot of joint pain. We still belong to a country dance club, and my husband gets his exercise by doing line dances and dancing with my friends. (I am only able to dance 2 or 3 times a night). I am the Historian of the club, so I take pictures and write articles of each dance. We enjoy church activities and attend church 2-3 times a week. We enjoy spending time with other Christians.

Two of my sons live in different states, one son lives near Chicago, and my youngest lives 1/2 block away from me. My oldest son, age 39 is a photographer as a hobby, and has a website http://nightowlphotography.com. His photos are fabulous, and includes images of models, body builders, belly dancers, as well as wonderful landscapes, eagle and bird photos, and flowers. I have a son, age 37, who has many interests, including art, designing websites, and making videos. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio. My son who is 25 lives in Denver, CO. My "baby" is 23.

Another oldie, 61! My name is Phillippe (no not a misspelling, Dad grew up in Canada with French Canadian neighbours but added an extra L).
My wife and I live in an isolated, steep, forested area with our two dogs; a couple of 35 kg. red cattle dog crosses (with who knows what). Our children are both grown with families of their own. They live in the big smokes of Sydney and Melbourne: so far away. We don't see them that often. We are just back from a visit to our daughter's home in Sydney. Our son and his family came up from Melbourne. They organised a party to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary (31st May) and invited some old friends and relatives...great kids. I met our granddaughter for the first time (6 months old in 3 days) and re-aquainted with our two grandsons.

I spent my working life in the electrical and electronics industry when I would have given my eye teeth (when they were worth something) to be involved in artistic endeavour.

I have always drawn, from early childhood until this day. Most of my efforts have been recognisable in form and sometimes intent. Then earlier this year I discovered Wet Canvas...WOW! Talk about a kid in a lolly (candy) shop!!! So I am right into trying to improve my line and tonal work and get to grips with colour. I do some work in acryllics but have little technique with a brush at this point, so I am working with coloured pencils, where I have a bit better control. Lo and behold...I am finding CPs to be most fulfilling in themselves and now consider working with them to be an end in itself rather than a means to an end as I initially intended.

Another baby boomer here ( or almost). I'm 52, My hubby and I have been married for 32 years, engaged for 3! (35 yrs!) So, for ever. We have 4 children: Sarah is 15 and Oh the boys! Heather is 22, married and pregnant with out first grandbaby!!!! Jon is 26, in the Army and stationed in (poor boy) Hawaii. Michelle, our oldest is 28, married and lives in Spokane Wa.
I have always been an artist. Both parents are also. My children have inherited the art gene as well. Most of my life was/is at home raising the children and running the house. I home schooled the children most of their school life. I did work at a resort near by for 10 years before health brought me back home again. I enjoy gardening, music and old movies. My husband is a computer data nerd and a massage therapist (poor me) We live in the Sierra Nevada foothills at 2000' elevation with the High Sierras as our view.
My main art love is cps but also venture into the acrylics, watercolors, photography, digital and mixed medias because I love to mix it up!

I also am of the old variety, at age 63. I'm retired from local government service in a variety of different career roles. I've been married to the same wife for 41.5 year; we met 43 years ago (almost to the day), workingin Yosemite National Park. We live in northern California, with vineyards on three sides of our small country property.

I was an aspring artist from a very young age, majored in art in high school and my first two years of college. Then, I became disenchanted, changed my major, eventually letting life crowd out my art. A couple of years or so after I retired, I decided to try taking an art class, to see if I still had any art left in me. I took a colored-pencil drawing class from an excellent local artist who really relit my fire and became my muse. I do art now with a passion that I didn't dream of having when I was young. Go figure! My life is still very busy with other things so my time for art is still (so far) pretty limited. I do some pastels and mixed media but CPs are at present my main focus. I just completed a watercolor pencil piece that you can see at http://home.comcast.net/~teacupfarm/...nthelight.html

At 68, I'm maybe the "old guy" here so far . Mostly I hang out at the Drawing and Sketching forum, as graphite is my first love. However, my wife has been encouraging (nagging ) me for years to move into color.

She is an accomplished watercolorist who shows her work and hangs out at the Watercolor forum. We are married 42 years and have two children with two grandchildren. Our son and his family live near Chicago. He's been involved with theater (lighting), but makes his living in IT with ATT. Our daughter lives 15 minutes from us, with her family. I am retired from R&D at The Dow Chemical Co.

My wife and I met in graduate school way back in the old days when computers occupied entire buildings. We both have technical backgrounds, she in biochemistry and I in physical chemistry. We came to art via local community classes, she some years before I. I came to drawing by way of lettering (calligraphy), and still dabble in the latter a bit. We both take the natural world as source of our subject material. She loves flowers (and has a beautiful garden), while I enjoy landscapes, trees, rocks, butterflies, birds, etc. Abstract is something neither of us will ever get our minds wrapped around. We are both realists .

Jen, I've been admiring your work for a while, of course! I'm glad you're taking a class too. I think it will be fun!

Michael, Nicole is an awesome artist and we can brag that we knew her "back when"! How lucky you are to have her as a mentor! I hope you'll post some of your pieces, maybe we can collectively help you with what you are trying to accomplish? It really helped me, starting out. And, Nicole is another PERFECT example of someone who posted her work here as a newbie for critiques...and just got better and better.

Char! Neat to hear you're whole story! For those who don't know, Char is the most prolific cper I've ever seen! And each one better than the last.

Phillipe, welcome! Love to see your work, please post! I think it's so cool that so many ppl of our generation don't just retire in front of the t.v. but move on to whatever creative endeavor was whispering in their ear! Don't know if you are aware, but cps have been gaining respect by leaps and bounds since I started 5 years ago. MANY MANY folks have won prizes in cp, beating out those wet media with the pesky brushes!

Kathy, I could NOT do anything creative when raising kids...I don't know why. Not even interested. KInd of an all or nothing type I guess. I love to mix it up, too, but I LOVE your cp work, so keep it up or else!!

MR. D, I am dabbling in watercolor pencils, would love you to do a demonstration some time??? Are they 100 percent watercolor pencil?

Just love your bantams, great handling of the light and shadows. YOu will just HAVE to find the time to visit and comment and post here, we would love to have you!!

Don, love your graphite work! CP is definitely a different technique, maybe we can help?

OK, with the exception of Jen, we all remember the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show...and remember what day of the week that was, lol! And no doubt know the lyrics from the title of this thread!

My name is Jennifer. Born in a little town/city in Ontario 27 years ago. Living in Scotland now with my husband who I met when I was backpacking in New Zealand (we really want to go back soon) . Trying to get everything ready for moving and getting all the paperwork for my immigration stuff all together. No kids and no desire to have any.

I either use coloured pencils or graphite. I would love to use clay but it takes up so much room. I love sculpting things by hand. Been drawing for a long time, using coloured pencils since I was 13 when I saw a book by bet borgeson. Had to try coloured pencils right away when I saw that and my art teacher at the time was very supportive.

um what else? I love dogs and my dad has the Rottie puppy we raised. Who is a big drooling friendly dog. I also love Snakes and would love to have another one someday.

I draw anything, people take me longer than anything else so I don't draw them as much as I should

I followed a link to WetCanvas a few years ago and am really glad that I did. Lots of great helpful things to read and friendly posters but I can't remember what site had the link, probably a wildlife artists site.

My name is Neill and was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, 40 years ago. I'm a research engineer in the field of mobile communications and networks, working for a small company formed out of the ashes of a closed-down Ericsson research lab. I did however take a road less traveled to my professional career, leaving school at 16 and spending 6 years as an apprentice and electrician at the Belfast shipyard...yes, the one that built the Titanic. I then went back to education, getting my Master's degree in 1994, from The University of Edinburgh, Scotland. I've lived in The Netherlands for the past 12 years, working on various communications based projects.

I love music (play both electric and acoustic guitar) and will listen to most genres, although I have a penchant for prog rock/metal. I also love motorbikes (the late Joey Dunlop is my hero) and football (soccer for the Americans amongst us), with Arsenal FC being like a 2nd family to me

I'm currently young, free and single...although at 40, I guess 2 out of 3 aint bad I've never been married (found 'the one' and lost her) and I dont have any children. Although I am my two nieces favourite uncle...which is probably down to the fact that I buy them presents whenever I get back to Belfast.

As for art..well I'm a dabbler, but I haven't painted/drawn in quite some time, but I'm in the process of clearing a box room for a studio, and hope to fire up my new Prismacolors pretty soon.

My name is Greg. I'm a social worker by day, and a frustrated artist by night. I live in Tulsa Ok and am 46 years old. I am married and have three children, one step-son, and 4 grandchildren.

I started playing around with artwork about 3 or 4 years ago. I stumbled upon Karen Cardinal and Carol Moore's websites where they specialized in colored pencil artwork. I thought it would be the perfect medium to fit my needs. I got involved with WetCanvas not long after that. I want to specialize in artwork that is not done by everyone else. I like to do fantasy works, and I have a passion for seascapes. I will occasionally do a portrait, but it's not one of my favorite things to do.

__________________Greg"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures." ~ Henry Ward Beecher

Hi, Greg!! I really like your series in your sig!! I also am a big fan of the now-defunct Color Pencil Challenge... and owe a lot to Karen for doing that...-

Welcome, Neill! Love the spelling of your name...it's our son's middle name, with the same spelling! We have lots of ex-Belfast...well, former Irishmen and women from all over...in the town I lived in until about 4 years ago. We're looking forward to seeing your cp pieces..c'mon, you don't really need much space...

Jen, nice to see another youngun here!! I should not be surprised you have so much cp experience, your work is excellent!

I am definitely not a baby boomer. I was born in Sydney, Australia (at a very young age )and I remained there for some 26 years before I exited the country for what I thought would be a brief stint. My comment to my mother and has now become famous last words was "Don't worry Mum, I will be home in 18 months". Well that was substantially more than 18 months ago. Any way I have gotten ahead of myself. I have always been an artist and at the age of 6 started drawing. Art was a part of my life throughout school but getting to Uni, that was the end of it and science indoctrinated the left side of my brain and sucked all the creativity out of the right. I am a scientist. It was a long time before I learnt to balance the right with the left. Now art is a calming effect from all the thinking that I have to do.

I left Australia for England in 1990 and I was there for 4 years while I did a PhD in genetics and then I came to the States with my husband who is also Aussie as he had a job in Philly. We have been living in the outer burbs of Philly for quite a while now. So long in fact, that we became citizens (so we can vote in Nov-our first opportunity). I started horse riding the year after I arrived here and after a couple of bad matches with horses, I have finally found a wonderful boy who gives me everything and is so talented. He was trained in dressage in Germany but they found out that he loved to jump, so he was imported to the States now he is a hunter, and I am lucky enough to own him.

I think I am trying to discover who I am as an artist. For a while there I was an acrylic painter and thus that is the main forum I moderate but I became interested in graphite which is my first love (when I was 6) and now I recognize that colour seems to be important. I routinely exhibit at Yellow Springs Art Show in Chester Springs about 20 miles west of Philly.

My PhD and research career got me an Associate Professorship in the faculty of Drexel University College of Medicine. I teach genetics to medical students and immunology to PhD-wannabes